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Stack 
/  Annex 


5019066 


THE  EASIEST  WAY. 


AN  ADDRESS  IN  THE  RODEF  SHALOM  TEMPLE 
PITTSBURGH,  SUNDAY,  MARCH  30,   1913. 


Scripture  Reading:  Exodus  xiii,  xiv. 


And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Pharaoh  had  let  the  people  go,  that 
God  led  them  not  through  the  way  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines, 
although  that  was  nearer.  (Exodus  xiii.,  17.) 


Among  the  interesting  and  unique  specimens  found 
in  a  public  aquarium  is  the  hermit-crab.  It  is  an  exceed- 
ingly curious  aquatic  object.  In  appearance  it  is  one  of 
the  strangest  specimens  of  marine  life, — a  crustacean 
which  insists  upon  living  in  the  shell  of  a  mollusk.  This 
crab  is  quite  capable  of  developing  its  own  shell,  yet,  from 
birth,  it  refuses  to  do  so.  If  you  have  ever*  observed  a 
hermit-crab  you  cannot  fail  to  have  noticed  that  it  fails 
to  obtain  a  natural  home  by  the  process  employed  by 
other  crustaceans.  Yet,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  this  ab- 
normal creature  manages  to  live,  to  find  food,  and  to  ob- 
tain shelter;  but  it  does  so  at  the  expense  of  true  crab- 
hood.  It  is  a  parasite.  It  obtains  a  house  under  false 
pretences. 


*By  the  Rev.  J.  Leonard  Levy,  Rabbi  of  the  Congregation. 
Stenographically  reported  by  Caroline  Loewenthal. 


Parasite  Life. 

If  you  have  ever  wandered  through  the  woods  and 
have  enjoyed  gazing  upon  some  fine  maple  or  apple  tree, 
if  you  have  permitted  your  eyes  to  wander  thoughtfully 
over  some  forest  giant,  you  will  see  a  natural  product 
which,  after  the  storms  and  stress  of  the  years,  appeals 
to  you  as  a  type  of  beauty,  strength  and  grandeur.  But,  en- 
twined around  the  tree  may  be  found  the  dainty  mistletoe. 
Charming  as  is  this  shrub,  it  has  renounced  its  individuali- 
ty; for,  instead  of  developing  limbs  of  its  own,  it  clings, 
with  almost  invisible  fingers,  to  the  virile  tree,  sucks  nour- 
ishment from  it,  and  reposes  calmly  and  sweetly  under  its 
shadow.  Here  again,  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  we  find 
a  parallel  illustration  to  that  taken  from  the  animate 
aquatic  world.  The  mistletoe,  like  the  hermit-crab,  has 
refused  to  do  its  own  work,  has  found  the  easiest  way  of 
living  and,  has,  therefore,  committed  self-destruction  as 
a  fine  specimen  of  vegetation. 

Animal  Parasites. 

When  we  consider  the  animal  kingdom,  we  find 
abundant  illustrations  of  the  same  truth.  I  am  sure  that 
you,  at  once,  recall  individuals  whom  you  have  met,  who 
have  long  since  given  up  thinking,  who  are  the  toys  and 
playthings  of  every  word  of  tyrannical  passion  uttered 
by  the  lips  of  hired  liars.  You  have  observed  long  since 
that  there  are  muscles  of  our  bodies  which  are  no  longer 
used,  whose  power  and  vigor  have  disappeared,  because 
of  this  disuse,  or  which  have  atrophied  or  become  rudi- 
mentary because  we  no  longer  employ  them.  Primitive 


man  could  move  his  nose  and  ears  like  the  animals  to 
which  he  was  related,  and  which  are  still  near  relations 
of  many  of  the  moderns.  But  as  these  muscles  were  no 
longer  used  to  obtain  food,  shelter  and  clothing,  nature 
took  her  revenge,  caused  them  to  atrophy,  and  denied 
man  the  privilege  of  retaining  them. 
\ 

The  Path  of  Least  Resistance. 

Sometimes,  when  you  go  to  the  mountains,  you  may 
profit  by  visiting  the  head  waters  of  a  great  river  system. 
You  will  observe  that  the  springs  at  the  mountain  tops, 
as  they  congregate  in  pools  and  take  their  downward 
course  toward  the  river  which  is  to  flow  into  the  never- 
ending  ocean,  take  the  path  of  least  resistance.  They 
always  go  the  easiest  way.  Finding  a  rock,  the  waters 
refuse  to  surmount  it;  they  circumvent  it.  Arrested  by 
an  obstacle,  over  or  around  which  the  waters  cannot  flow, 
they  burrow  their  way  under  it.  Nature  hates  straight 
paths  and  short  cuts.  She  seems  to  wish  to  avoid  all 
semblance  of  haste  and  every  attempt  at  speed.  Infinite 
in  patience,  consummate  in  the  art  of  endurance,  she  at- 
tains her  end  with  a  minimum  of  effort  but  with  a  maxi- 
mum result.  A  calm  and  deliberate  survey  of  her 
achievements  will  indicate  that  her  method  is  the  easiest 
way. 

The  Easiest,  Often  the  Hardest,  Way. 

Let  these  few  simple  illustrations  serve  to  indicate 
to  you  that  sufficient  warranty  exists  in  animate  and  in- 
animate nature  for  men  and  women  to  seek  for  them- 
selves the  easiest  way  of  doing  things ;  yet  if  we  properly 


and  fully  consider  this  easiest  way  which  nature  mani- 
fests we  shall  find  that  it  may  be  interpreted  from  many 
angles  of  vision.  My  message  to  you  this  morning  is 
that  the  easiest  way  is  sometimes  the  hardest  road,  and 
that  the  shortest  path  is  very  frequently  the  longest 
route. 

When  God  brought  Israel  out  of  Egypt, — let  us  be 
old-fashioned  enough  to  use  the  language  of  Scripture, — 
He  did  not  take  them  by  the  way  of  the  Philistines,  al- 
though that  was  nearer,  but  He  led  them  by  means  of  a 
detour  through  the  Arabian  desert  which  consumed  forty 
years,  although  they  might  have  reached  their  destina- 
tion in  a  week  or  so.  Whatever  may  be  the  method  of 
inanimate  nature  it  is  apparent  that  God  urges  His 
children  not  to  go  by  the  easiest  way,  but  that  they 
rather  go  by  that  route  which  will  most  surely  bring  them 
to  their  Promised  Land  duly  prepared  and  properly 
equipped  for  the  enjoyment  of  its  privileges. 

The  Easiest  is  the  Least  Profitable  Way. 

The  thief  takes  the  easiest  way  when  he  robs  to  gain 
wealth  most  quickly;  and  every  man  who,  by  usurious 
rates  of  interest,  acquires  money  speedily,  takes  the 
easiest  and  the  shortest  way  to  wealth, — a  way,  which, 
before  he  dies,  he  will  yet  discover  was  not,  necessarily, 
the  best  way.  The  boy  or  girl  attending  school,  to  whom 
is  assigned  the  duty  of  studying  the  classics  in  a  foreign, 
living  or  dead,  tongue,  may,  perhaps,  learn  the  lesson 
most  speedily  with  the  aid  of  a  translation,  and  it  may 
be  that  only  the  fewest  do  not  resort  to  this  method  of 


getting  their  lessons  in  the  easiest  way.  I  am  quite  sun-. 
after  many  years  of  experience  as  a  teacher,  that  the 
easiest  way  proves  the  hardest  way  in  the  long  run ;  that 
that  child  who  should  know  something  of  Latin,  or  Greek, 
or  some  modern  tongue,  becomes  handicapped  in  later 
life  when  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  classic  or  modern 
language  may  be  a  determining  factor  in  obtaining  the 
long-sought  prize  of  life;  for,  such  a  one  will  usually 
have  to  make  way  for  the  student,  who  was  honest  and 
faithful  in  the  performance  of  duty  while  attending 
school.  The  child  in  the  home  likes  to  have  things  don-- 
in the  easiest  way,  and  parents  frequently  indulge  their 
children  by  permitting  them  to  avoid  everything  wlii  -h 
savors  of  effort.  This  is  the  manner  in  which  the  de- 
pendent child  is  manufactured,  and  thus  is  created  an 
environment  out  of  which  the  defective  child  grows. 

The  Way  of  the  Failure. 

Daily  we  see  the  wrecks  along  the  shores  of  liic's 
stream.  Daily  we  observe  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  on  the- 
flowing  river  of  life.  Daily  we  see  the  derelicts  danger- 
ously obstructing  the  channels  of  progress.  Daily  \v  • 
see  the  scum  and  froth  borne  without  resistance  ai-),:-- 
the  currents  of  time  to  end  in  the  idle  fury  of  usi-l  (88- 
ness  on  the  vacuous  shores  of  failure.  Daily  the  ship- 
wrecks of  high  hopes  affright  our  vision.  Daily  the 
promising  life  ends  in  defeat,  the  brilliant  light  is  ex- 
tinguished, the  sun  sets  above  the  hori/mi.  Nothing  is 
more  common  than  to  find  the  bright  and  hopeful  lad  set 
aside  l\v  the  discriminating  hand  of  unbribable  nature. 
Sad  as  it  is  to  contemplate,  it  is.  nevertheless,  true  fiat 


the  roseate  morn  of  life  is  often  succeeded  by  the  lowering 
afternoon  and  stormy  sunset.  "The  easiest  way"  has, 
all  to  often,  been  the  damning  motto.  The  path  of 
least  resistance  has  been  the  route  pursued,  and  in  that 
path,  all  too  often,  destruction  has  been  found.  Ease, 
comfort,  facility,  convenience,  luxury,  pleasure,  self-in- 
dulgence, self-gratification, — these  are  the  poisoned  vines 
which  have  ever  grown  on  that  road  whose  ways  are  the 
ways  of  destruction  and  whose  paths  lead  to  death. 

Our  Duty  to  Struggle. 

We  have  been  born  to  fight.  We  are  created  to 
struggle.  We  are  formed  to  enter  upon  a  combat  in  life. 
He  who  imagines  that  the  world  is  aught  but  a  football 
field  will,  before  he  takes  his  long  farewell  in  the  fullness 
of  time,  discover  that  he  has  been  playing  the  game  of 
life  under  a  misapprehension  of  the  important  rules  of 
the  fray.  We  need  some  clear  guiding  principle  by  which 
to  live.  No  sane  man  enters  upon  a  business  undertaking 
without  knowing  something  of  what  he  hopes  to  achieve 
by  it.  No  man,  endowed  with  an  average  amount  of  com- 
mon sense,  starts  upon  an  enterprise  without  calculating 
where  it  will  land  him.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  so  many 
of  us  possess  a  certain  degree  of  assurance  and  self-as- 
sertiveness,  it  is,  nevertheless,  sure  that  each  of  us  who 
possesses  the  slightest  amount  of  conservatism  does  some- 
times ponder  long  enough  to  ask  whither  we  are  tending, 
whither  the  road  will  lead. 

We  Need  Principles. 

If  we  wish  to  make  a  real  success  of  life  we  need 
some  principle  or  example  by  wrhich  to  guide  ourselves. 


Animals  need  no  such  motifs.  Beasts  need  no  Decalogue. 
Brutes  require  no  sign-posts,  on  which  moral  precepts 
are  engraven ;  human  beings  do.  When  we  notice  how 
often  so  many  flounder  between  high  purpose  and  base 
aims,  we  ought  sometimes  pause  to  consider  what  life 
may  mean  to  us.  Ought  it  mean  parasitism  and  tin- 
easiest  way,  or  should  it  mean  mastery  and  conquest? 
Are  we  to  make  of  ourselves  human  mistletoes  and  her- 
mit-crabs, or  are  we  to  be  warriors  in  a  stout  fight,  the 
issue  of  which  the  centuries  yet  unborn  are  to  know? 

The  Way  of  the  Parasite. 

Is  it  not  sadly  true  that  in  spite  of  the  warnings 
inscribed  on  the  pages  of  history,  in  spite  of  the  ad\  !«•«• 
which  the  weed-covered  ruins  of  once  promising  lives 
offer  us,  all  too  many  seek  the  easiest  way  of  parasitism? 
Man's  supreme  qualifications  are  mental,  moral,  spiritual. 
These  are  never  developed  by  pursuing  the  dalliam-.- 
path  of  the  easiest  way.  In  an  age  like  the  present 
when  wealth  has  been  accumulated  all  too  rapidly  for 
human  good,  when,  because  of  the  sudden  accession  of 
wealth,  there  exists  a  shameful  confusion  of  ideas  on 
moral  issues,  many  are  tempted  to  seek  the  parasitic  ease 
of  luxury  instead  of  developing  a  noble  ideal.  Because 
we  lack  ennobling  hopes  and  visions  to  guide  us,  we  select 
certain  individuals  as  types  of  perfection  and  accept 
their  opinions. 

The  woman  buys  her  fashion  paper,  which  repre- 
sents to  her  the  authority  for  her  appearance;  and 
though  it  is  said  that  the  demi-monde  of  Paris  issues  the 


fiats  of  fashion,  it  is  strange  how  often  superior-minded 
and  pure  women  allow  themselves  to  be  clothed  in  the 
glaring  attire  of  the  courtesan.  The  man  chooses  some 
individual  in  the  community,  and  seeks  to  pattern  after 
him.  Some  imagine  that  the  man  with  high  financial 
rating  is  the  desirable  model.  Such  a  one  has  the  right 
to  sign  a  check  with  a  long  row  of  zeros  after  the  initial 
figure;  or  he  owns  a  very  large  house;  or  he  has  a  certain 
number  of  automobiles.  And  many  of  us  select  such  an 
individual,  in  this  age  of  confused  morality,  and  set  him 
on  a  pedestal,  and  bow  down  before  him. 

So  few  of  us  have  sane  ideas  in  this  particular,  for 
fashion  and  money,  pleasant  leaders  as  they  may  seem, 
are,  in  reality,  the  worst  of  all  possible  task-masters. 
Their  devotees  are  never  happy,  seldom  useful,  and  gen- 
erally engrossed  in  bestial  selfishness.  Their  worshippers 
are  among  .the  kings  and  queens  of  the  undesirables. 
Their  servants  are  bound  and  tied,  hand  and  foot,  to  the 
idols  of  vanity  and  greed.  They  encumber  the  earth 
with  their  odious  presence  and  shame  their  Maker  by 
their  hateful  indulgences.  Of  course  there  are  the  hon- 
orable exceptions,  but  the  slaves  of  fashion  and  money 
are  the  weeds,  not  the  fiowers,  of  life 's  fertile  fields. 

The  Stigma  of  Differing. 

If  it  were  only  possible  for  us  to  do  our  own  think- 
ing; if  it  were  only  possible  to  find  men  and  women  who 
are  bent  upon  developing  their  own  individuality,  nine- 
tenths  of  the  complaints  we  hear  about  modern  conditions 
would  soon  be  remedied.  But  so  many  of  us  wish  to  go  the 

8 


easiest  way  that,  the  individual  who  dares  to  invite  us  to 
alter  the  prevailing  methods  is  usually  stigmatized  as  an 
awful  bore  or  denounced  as  a  veritable  crank.  I  have  scm 
my  fine  society  lady  take  her  lorgnette  and  hold  it  disdain- 
fully as,  with  contemptuous  sneer  she  ga/ed,  astonished, 
at  the  man  or  woman  who  has  dared  to  ask  her  to  think. 
"Who  am  I,"  says  she,  'vt!uit  you  have  the  audacity  to 
I  Laee  in  on  me  the  burden  of  thinking.'  I  can  buy  every- 
thing except  thinking,  and  that  I  do  not  desire.  I  can 
have  machines  to  do  my  work.  I  can  have  amanuenses 
to  wrrite  my  letters.  I  can  even  have  fine  preachers  de- 
liver the  sermons  I  desire  to  hear."  Aye,  and  because 
there  are  so  many  of  these  fine  ladies  who  attend  churches 
today,  we  find  so  many  ladylike  males  in  the  pulpits 
today ;  for  there  are  very  few  men  who  really  assume  the 
task  of  leading  a  congregation,  and  who  refuse  to  step 
down  to  the  level  of  the  banality,  the  stupidity,  the  ignor- 
ance, of  the  average  member  of  the  average  congregation. 

Let  Us  Alone! 

Most  of  us  do  not  care  to  be  disturbed.     We  are  like 
the   Israelites   who   saw   the   pursuing   hosts   of   Pharaoh 

• 

closing  the  gap  between  them  and  the  fleeing  slaves.  An 
hour  before  the  enfranchised  hosts  had,  no  doubt,  been 
singing  paeans  of  glory  to  Moses,  their  deliverer.  An 
hour  before  they  had,  probably,  been  chanting  hymns  of 
praise  to  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob.  But 
now  the  enemy  appears.  An  obstacle  falls  athwart  their 
path.  A  difficulty  arises  in  their  way.  They  need  to 
think  and  act  quickly.  But,  alas,  they  are  still  slaves 
in  spirit,  though  free  in  body.  They  revert  to  the  easiest 


way  and  abuse  their  great  redeemer.  "Is  not  this  the 
word  that  we  did  tell  thee  in  Egypt,  saying,  Let  us  alone, 
that  we  may  serve  the  Egyptians.  For  it  had  been  bet- 
ter for  us  to  serve  the  Egyptians  than  that  we  should  die 
in  the  wilderness." 

We  desire  peace  of  mind.  We  demand  to  continue 
serenely  on  our  own  way.  We  do  not  care  to  do  our  own 
thinking.  It  is  trouble  enough  for  us  to  rise  each  morn- 
ing, to  eat,  to  go  down  to  our  business  and  work,  as  other 
animals  who  eat  and  work;  and,  then,  when  we  come 
home  in  the  evening,  we  want  to  have  some  pleasure.  I 
had  been  told  scores  of  times,  by  men  who  are  making  a 
success  of  their  business,  that  they  would  like  to  read 
at  night,  but  their  eyes  are  so  tired.  Yes,  but  their  eyes 
never  tire  looking  at  playing-cards.  Their  eyes  never 
tire  looking  at  the  filmy  draperies  of  the  captivating 
terpsichorean  artistes  in  the  theatres.  Their  eyes  never 
tire  as  they  gaze  upon  the  ever-moving  lips  of  the  gossip 
and  scandal-monger.  Sad,  is  it  not,  that,  only  when  they 
are  expected  to  read  a  good  book,  their  eyes  get  so  tired ! 
Such  persons  remind  me  of  the  savage  whom  Lord  Ave- 
bury  mentions  in  one  of'his  books.  A  missionary  came 
to  the  savage  and  presented  certain  ideas  for  his  consid- 
eration. The  more  eloquent  waxed  the  speaker  the 
sounder  became  the  sleep  of  the  audience.  When,  exas- 
perated, the  missionary  aroused  the  savage,  the  latter 
petulantly  said,  "Don't  bother  me  with  your  ideas;  ideas 
make  me  sleepy. ' '  So  many  who  succeed  financially,  fail 
intellectually,  morally  and  spiritually,  because  they  re- 
fuse to  search  out  an  idea  for  themselves. 


10 


Man's,  Not  God's,  Method. 

The  "easiest  way"  is  the  philosophy  of  the  prostitute, 
the  motto  of  every  courtesan.  The  easirst  way  is*  the 
philosophy  of  every  fallen  man  and  woman.  Not  so  is 
God's  method;  not  so  is  the  philosophy  of  these  men  and 
women  who  form  the  salt  of  the  earth,  who  are  the  chosen 
of  mankind,  the  men  and  women  who  are  beloved  of  God, 
in  whom  His  heart  delighteth.  A  short  time  ago,  when 
so  many  men  were  accused  of  graft  and  wrong-doing  in 
this  city,  when  one  man  stood  out  in  bold  relief  and  as- 
sumed the  burden  of  helping  us  to  observe  the  old  morali- 
ties, I  remember  how  men  said,  it  is  the  easiest  way  to 
submit.  "These  sins  have  always  existed,"  they  said. 
"Grafters  and  bribers  have  always  found  a  place  in  civic 
,life.  They  can't  be  eradicated."  They  shrugged  their 
shoulders,  spent  their  vituperation  on  the  brave  citizen 
who  manfully  did  his  duty  and  solaced  themselves  with 
the  shameful  philosophy,  "the  easiest  way  out  is  submis- 
sion." 

Not  so  argued  my  friend.  He  showed  Pittsburgh 
the  brighter  vision  of  what  she  might  be,  and  that  to 
which  Pittsburgh  is  now  awakening  and  that  to  which  she 
is  aspiring  she  owes,  in  no  small  degree,  to  one  man  who 
selected  the  hardest  way  when  nearly  everyone  counselled 
that  the  easiest  way  should  be  pursued.  His  is  the  dis- 
tinction today  of  having  rendered  an  invaluable  service, 
not  only  by  his  sacrifices  but  also  by  his  example.  He 
did  his  own  thinking,  and  whenever  Pittsburghers  will 
devote  a  little  time  to  think  for  themselves,  whenever  they 
cease  to  seek  for  themselves  the  easiest  way,  we  shall 

11 


build  t  ,e  city  l-"Hut'ful  whose  name  is  right  •ousnesx  and 
concerning  which  men  will  s«y  "The  Lord  is  then-." 
There  is  not  a  citizen  of  Pittsburgh  hut  owes  this  reformer 
an  unpayable  debt,  and  often,  in  my  heart  of  hearts,  have 
I  thanked  God  that,  this  man,  who  showed  Pittsburgh 
her  duty,  was  a  Jew,  a  member  of  our  congregation,  and 
one  whom  I  treasure  as  my  loyal  and  devoted  friend. 

The  Longest,  Often  the  Shortest,  Way. 

It  is  so  easy  to  go  the  shortest  way  immediately  to 
gain  that  which  we  desire.  Put  when  God  brought  Israel 
out  of  Egypt,  he  led  the  people  not 'by  the  Avay  of  the 
Philistines,  although  that  was  nearer:  lie  led  them  to 
their  Promised  Land, — even  though  we  regard  this  oulv 
as  a  metaphor, — by  the  longest  way,  proving  that  t1  at 
was,  in  the  ultimate,  the  shortest  route.  Life,  T  sav  to 
you,  is  not  to  mean  parasitism :  it  must  mean  struggle 
for  mastery:  it  must  mean  fght:  it  must  mean  com':at. 
This  is  the  peculiar  Jewish  view  of  tilings:  and  it.  is 
strange,  perhaps,  that  we,  who  are  but  a  handful  of  peo- 
ple in  the  midst  of  a  great  world,  should  be  those  who 
indicate  to  the  whole  world  that  man's  mission  on  earth 
is  to  struggle,  to  fight,  against  the  contending  angels, 
to  wrestle  with  opposing  forces  to  convert  them  into 
powers  which  bless. 

Resist  Evil! 

After  a  patient  and  careful  study  of  the  themes  of 
the  two  religions  which  engage  our  attention, — Judaism 
and  the  daughter  faith  Christianity, — I  am  led  to  con- 
clude that  the  younger  faith  laid  its  insistence  upon  non- 
12 


resistence,  upon  the  peace  and  calm  of  other-worldli:: 
upon  the  traiiquility  resulting  from  renunciation  ;m<l  selt'- 
crucrfixion.  But  it  is  the  mission  of  .Judaism,  the  mother 
faith,  to  teach  men  not  to  submit  to  remediable  ills:  that 
the  best  way  is  to  fight  them,  by  struggling  for  Right  and 
Liberty  though  not  for  rights  and  liberties.  Ther.-  is  a 
distinction:  for  when  a  man  fights  for  rights  and  liberties 
he  is  seeking  his  own  ends;  whereas  he  who  fights  tor 
Right  and  Liberty  may  become  one  of  the  saviors  of  man- 
kind. When  we  fight  for  Right,  we  demand  the  riylrs 
of  all.  When  we  fight  for  Liberty,  we  seek  liberty  for 
all  men.  But  when  we  strike  for  rights  and  liberties, 
we  are  only  thinking  of  ourselves;  whereas  the  purpose 
iof  our  faith,  the  faith  of  our  fathers,  was  and  is  that  we 
should  oppose  every  adverse  condition,  striving  hard  to 
minimize  its  evils  and  finally  to  conquer  them  by  strug- 
gling and  contending.  "He  that  contends  in  the  fear  of 
God  shall  endure." 

Circumstances  and  Men. 

I  am  often  told,  "it  is  all  very  well  for  you  to  talk, 
but  how  can  we  become  among  those  chosen  of  whom  you 
never  cease  speaking?  Look  what  circumstances  were  in 
their  favor?"  What  circumstances  made  Shakespeare? 
There  is  only  one  answer;  Shakespeare.  What  circum- 
stances made  Washington?  Washington,  and  naught 
else.  What  circumstances  made  Lincoln?  Only  Lincoln. 
Consider  the  old  pagan  Socrates,  to  whom  I  am  so  de- 
voted, although  he  was  a  heathen;  what  circumstances 
made  him  ?  He  had  no  schooling,  no  wealth,  no  profitable 
business.  He  just  walked  around  the  streets  of  Athens, 

13 


stopping  men  on  the  streets  talking  about  things  in  the 
heavens  and  on  earth.  If  he  found  a  man  laughing,  with- 
out due  cause,  he  showed  him  what  a  fool  he  was  to  laugh, 
by  proving  that  laughter  could  be  absurd.  If  he  found 
a  man  crying,  he  showed  him  that  crying  was  equally 
absurd  as  laughing,  showed  him  that  nothing  was  of  real 
value  but  philosophy. 

This  man  fought,  for  he  was  a  brave  soldier.  He 
also  served  the  state  as  a  magistrate  and  as  such  he  was 
a  living  opponent  of  the  false  philosophy  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  easiest  way.  Fifty  magistrates  are  called  upon  to 
pass  on  a  law  framed  by  Callixenus  and  which  was  pal- 
pably iniquitous.  Socrates  was  one  of  the  fifty.  Forty- 
nine  votes  favor  the  law,  one  vote  is  cast  against  it  and 
that  was  recorded  by  Socrates.  The  thirty  tyrants  of 
Greece  order  five  men  of  Athens  to  bring  before  them  for 
punishment  a  fellow-citizen  named  'Leon,  who  was  al- 
together innocent.  Socrates  was  one  of  the  five.  Four 
of  the  men  obeyed ;  one  refused.  That  one  was  Socrates. 
A  few  hours  before  he  was  to  meet  the  doom  inflicted 
upon  him  by  his  fellow-citizens,  he  sat  on  his  bed  calmly 
discussing  with  his  disciples  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 
He  died  a  glorious  martyr's  death,  outliving  those  whose 
votes  destroyed  him,  enjoying  an  immortality  of  influence 
rarely  exceeded  by  even  the  most  illustrious  of  men.  Now, 
what  circumstances  favored  him?  None.  Only  Socrates. 

Wishing  and  Willing. 

There  are  very  few  of  us  who  would  not  be  George 
Washington  if  we  could.  But  are  we  willing  to  uiider- 

14 


take  and  undergo  what  Washington  endured?  Arc  we 
ready  to  pass  through  sufferings  as  he  wast  Are  we  pre- 
pared to  take  the  chance  of  death  upon  the  scaffold  as  a 
traitor  to  our  country,  or  success  and  the  fatherhood  of 
a  new  country  ?  Are  we  willing,  amid  the  snows  of  a  Val- 
ley Forge,  to  go  on  our  knees,  to  ask  God  to  guide  and 
send  help,  when  everything  is  dark  about  us? 

How  many  of  us  would  not  be  a  Lincoln  if  we  could  ? 
Have  you  ever  studied  his  rugged,  tragic  face?  Have 
you  ever  thought  of  him  as  ' '  the  man  of  sorrows  ? ' '  Have 
you  ever  pondered  the  tears  he  shed,  the  sobs  and  sighs 
he  heaved,  the  sacrifices  he  brought?  Have  you  ever  re- 
membered that  he  stood  like  a  rock  firm  and  composed 
while  the  waters  of  rebellion  beat  about  and  over  him? 
Have  you  ever  really  considered  that  man,  bearing  in  his 
heart  the  sorrow  of  a  divided  nation,  and  yet  determined 
to  fight  it  out,  along  the  line  of  fiercest  resistance,  if  it 
took  all  summer?  Could  you  endure  what  he  did  brave- 
ly at  Gettysburg?  Could  you  stand  and  dedicate  a  ceme- 
tery in  which  were  to  be  buried  many  thousands  of  men 
who  had  been  hurled  to  death  as  a  consequence  of  the  war 
conducted  by  your  command  ?  Could  you  speak  as  spake 
Lincoln  at  Gettysburg?  Oh,  it  is  so  easy  to  wish  to  be  a 
Lincoln ;  but  are  you  ready  to  do  those  things  which  made 
Lincoln  ? 

No  American  now  living  has  ever  been  more  maligned 
and  less  understood  than  the  senior  ex-president  of  the 
United  States.  Many  believe  that  he  has  greatly  erred 
in  his  opinions,  and  many  greatly  object  to  some  of  his 
actions;  yet  I  am  certain  that  there  are  very  few  men 

15 


who  will  go  down  in  history  with  a  more  honored  name 
than  Theodore  Roosevelt.  Had  he  died  yesterday,  ihe 
whole  nation  would  now  be  bathed  in  tears,  and  many 
would  be  they  who  \vould  bear  upon  themselves  signs  of 
mourning  because  a  great  American  was  dead.  Yet  I 
believe  that  there  lives  no  man  in  the  United  States  more 
feared,  more  hated,  more  detested,  more  distrusted,  than 
this  same  Theodore  Roosevelt  who,  whatever  be  his  faults. 
did  awaken  the  conscience  of  the  United  States  as  no  imm 
before  him,  who  taught,  while  he  was  the  servant  of  the 
people,  that  every  man  in  every  walk  of  life,  as  president 
or  as  doorkeeper,  as  preacher  or  salesman,  every  single 
individual  who  is  placed  in  a  position  of  service,  must  hr 
faithful  to  his  rightful  employer.  Let  men  say  what 
they  'will  of  Roosevelt,  he  will  go  down  in  history  as 
the  Luther,  the  Cromwell,  of  America. 

Praying  and  Working1. 

It  is  easy  to  wish,  but  hard  to  act.  We  pray  when 
we  ought  to  be  working.  The  mistake  which  ruins  so 
many  lives  is  that  we  indulge  in  repining  when  we  should 
be  toiling  in  our  own  vineyards.  Yet,  even  when  we 
make  an  effort  thus  to  toil,  all  too  often  we  cast  envious 
eyes  upon  the  vineyards  of  others.  Weak  men  wait  for 
opportunities  and  fail  to  see  them  when  they  come : 
strong  men  make  opportunities  lift  them  into  eminence. 
He  who  cannot  succeed  in  the  smaller  places  of  the  world 
would  fail  in  the  larger  if  ever  he  reached  them.  The 
mediocre  man  is  ever  an  eagle  in  his  own  opinion,  though 
but  a  martin  in  fact.  The  clown  sits  by  the  river  bank 
and  waits  for  its  waters  to  flow  by;  while  he  who  is 

16 


master  of  his  own  destiny  builds  his  water-wheel  where- 
with to  do  his  work. 

Shifting  Responsibilities. 

It  is  popular  in  this  age  to  believe  that  the  overruling 
power  is  environment,  that  heredity  is  naught  but  a  suc- 
cession of  environments,  and  that  all  natural  laws  yield 
to  environment.  Strange,  is  it  not,  that  the  same  eu- 
vironment  should  produce  such  diverse  results  as  may  be 
witnessed  in  one  and  the  same  household?  We  seek 
causes  and  are  delighted  if  we  can  shift  responsibilities,— 
humanity's  failing  since  the  days  of  Adam.  More  often 
than  not  the  fault  is  in  ourselves,  rather  than  in  the  stars, 
that  we  are  underlings.  We  see  our  opportunity  beckon- 
ing us  forward.  We  hear  its  voice  calling  to  us.  But 
we  see  the  desert  to  which  it  may  take  us, — the  desert 
of  difficulty,  of  struggle,  of  despair,  of  contention,  of 
strife,  of  hate,  of  ostracism,  of  death, — and  we  turn  sor- 
rowfully away.  We  dread  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea. 
We  fear  the  trials  of  the  wilderness.  We  take  the  easiest 
way.  and  then,  in  rage,  in  jealousy  and  in  envy.  \ve  sn-k 
to  tear  the  laurels  from  the  head  of  him  who  dared,  we 
wrench  the  epaulets  from  the  shoulders  of  him  who 
turned  not  aside  in  the  presence  of  danger  and  difficulty. 

The  Case  of  the  Jew. 

Let  me  hasten  to  my  conclusion  by  a  further  illus- 
tration. Ten  million  men  and  women,  out  of  the  one 
thousand  five  hundred  millions  of  people  on  this  earth, 
are  called  Jews.  These  ten  millions  arc  scattered  all 
over  the  world.  They  live  under  every  flag.  They  have 

17 


endured  through  many  burdensome  ages.  I  have  not  the 
slightest  doubt  that  while  I  was  reading  the  Scripture 
lesson  this  morning,  some  so-called  liberals  were  mentally 
childing  me  for  the  absurdity  of  reading  such  a  lesson 
to  a  twentieth-century  congregation.  I  have  no  doubt 
but  some  High  School  students  gathered  here  this  morning 
do  not  believe  that  the  waters  were  heaped  up  as  a  wall 
so  that  the  Hebrews  could  cross  the  Red  Sea  on  dry  land. 
They  do  not  realize  that  that  criticism  was  offered  a 
thousand  years  ago,  even  though  they  only  heard  it  today. 
And  yet  I  say  to  you  that  that  story  is  as  true,  even 
though  not  literally  so,  as  that  God's  light  is  now  shining 
in  this  room. 

Our  Difficulties. 

It  is  true  in  this  respect, — the  people  of  Israel  have 
been  oppressed  by  Pharaohs  in  every  age,  and  they  have 
been  made  to  labor  without  reward.  They  have  been 
driven  through  Red  Seas  of  difficulty  in  every  land,  and 
only  God  redeemed  them.  We  have  our  difficulties  in 
every  country  today,  not  greater  difficulties  than  in  for- 
mer ages,  yet,  perhaps,  a  little  more  intense,  because  we 
live  in  civilized  lands  and  ages.  I  do  not  suppose  that 
the  oppression  in  Russia  today  is  one  whit  more  severe 
than  that  suffered  by  our  ancestors  in  Spain.  I  feel  quite 
sure  that  the  oppression  in  Galicia  and  Roumania  is  no 
worse  than  Israel's  oppression  by  ancient  Rome.  I  am 
perfectly  certain  that  modern  prejudices,  of  which  I  hear 
so  much  whenever  I  speak  with  Jews,  are  no  more  bitter 
thaa  they  ever  were  in  the  past.  On  the  contrary ;  I  think 
I  could  show  you  that  most  of  the  prejudices  against 

18 


which  we  inveigh  may  be  found  within  Israel  rather  than 
outside  Israel. 

Oppressed  Everywhere. 

But  to  continue.  This  people  of  Israel  has  suffered 
oppression  in  every  land.  Today,  in  Russia,  it  is  of  the 
most  brutal  character.  In  Roumania  and  Galicia  it  is 
of  the  most  appalling  character.  In  Austria  and  Ger- 
many it  is  of  the  most  annoying  character.  In  France,  in 
England  and  America,  it  is  of  a  character  that  sometimes 
embitters  otherwise  sweet  souls.  Now,  all  through  the 
ages,  for  the  last  eighteen  hundred  years,  there  was  a 
way  out  for  the  Jews.  They  could  have  overcome  all  op- 
pression in  one  night.  We  can  do  it  today  all  over  the 
world.  There  are  today,  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  a 
number  of  people  who  would  regard  it  as  their  highest 
privilege  to  take  each  of  us  to  the  baptismal  font,  to 
sprinkle  over  us  a  little  holy  water  and  convert  us  to 
Christianity;  and  if  they  were  allowed  to  do  this  they 
would  feel  that  they  had  performed  an  excellent  task. 
Sometimes,  I  almost  wish  that  they  might  do  it  with  some 
who  call  themselves  Jews.  Sometimes  I  almost  think 
that  it  would  be  better  even  to  have  such  Jews  converted 
to  any  religion  if  that  would  be  the  means  of  forcing 
some  spirituality  through  the  thick  craniums  of  those 
complacent  individuals  among  us  who  are,  spiritually, 
dying  of  a  fatty  degeneration  of  mind,  heart  and  soul. 

Who  Would  Accept  Conversion? 

But  are  we  willing  to  accept  the  conditions?  Have 
we  ever  been  willing  to  accept  such  terms?  You  know 

19 


that  when  one  has  had  a  wound  upon  the  hand,  the  scab 
sloughs  off  leaving  the  skin  healthy.  So  the  scabs  upon 
Judaism  have  sloughed  off,  leaving  Israel  and  Judaism 
better  and  purer.  And  I  say  to  you  that  though  the 
easiest  way  would  be  to  desert  our  faith,  to  turn  our  back 
upon  that  which  our  fathers  admired  and  thus  relieve  our- 
selves of  the  obligation  of  being  the  minority  religion, 
very  few  have  ever  accepted  it.  Are  you  willing  to  ac- 
cept it?  If  I  interpret  the  soul  of  my  people  aright,  I 
say  in  their  name,  as  I  do  in  my  own,  that  if  any  man  can 
show  us  a  higher  expression  of  truth  than  that  which 
Judaism  offers  to  us,  we  will  gladly  accept  it.  We  are 
prepared  to  follow  the  truth,  though  it  lead  us  by  the 
hardest  way.  We  shall  follow  what  we  think  is  right, 
though  it  take  us  to  our  death.  But  until  a  higher  and 
a  better  faith  be  revealed,  we  scorn  compromise  and 
desertion. 

Israel's  the  Hardest  Way. 

Thus  has  Israel  acted  through  the  ages.  The  easiest 
way  would  have  been  to  be  renegades,  to  desert.  Where 
have  you  found,  except  among  the  very,  few,  that  Israel 
has  ever  deserted  his  colors?  You  talk  about  Leonidas 
at  the  Pass  of  Thermopylae !  You  talk  about  the  bravery 
of  Horatius  at  the  bridge  in  Rome !  You  talk  about  the 
splendid  courage  of  the  British  at  Crecy  and  Poitiers! 
You  talk  about  the  fight  of  the  Colonials  in  the  War  of 
Independence!  •  There  has  never  in  all  history  been 
waged  a  nobler  fight  than  has  been  fought  bravely,  un- 
yieldingly, by  the  people  of  Israel,  who  have  flung  into  the 
teeth  of  an  opposing  world,  "The  easiest  way  is  the  way 

20 


of  the  prostitute ;  the  longest  way,  the  hardest  way,  may 
be  the  truest  way ;  that  is  my  way.  I  can  die,  but  I  can 
never  surrender."  Am  I  not  interpreting  your  hearts 
and  your  souls  in  this  way  ?  The  Jew,  rather  than  go  the 
easiest  way,  will  continue  to  suffer  if  suffer  he  must ;  but 
yield  he  cannot,  and  be  false  he  will  not. 

Avoid  the  Easiest  Way! 

Therefore,  young  man  and  young  woman,  for  the 
future  is  to  be  made  by  you,  I  say  especially  to  you,  re- 
move from  your  minds  the  idea  that  the  easiest  way  is 
the  right  way,  or  the  best  way.  Renounce  the  thought 
that  there  can  be  any  compromise  between  conscience 
and  convenience.  I  may  sometimes  be  called  upon  to 
officiate  at  the  funeral  of  some  of  the  young  people  whom 
I  have  confirmed.  I  beg  of  you  not  to  put  me  in  the 
position  of  having  to  say  about  you  that  you  developed 
into  the  best  card  player.  Place  me  not  in  the  unenviable 
position  of  writing  for  your  epitaph  that  you  were  the 
best  dressed  girl  in  Pittsburgh.  Do  not  let  me  have  to 
say  of  you,  young  man,  that  you  drove  the  shrewdest  bar- 
gain of  any  one. 

But  young  man,  young  woman,  think  what  America 
offers  to  you  as  against  the  whole  world.  What  oppor- 
tunity is  given  here  in  America  to  the  young  Jew  and 
young  Jewess !  Seek  your  way !  Strike  your  blow  I  Be 
true  to  God  and  self!  There  are  finer  things  in  the 
world  than  money  and  the  things  which  money  can  buy, 
valuable  and  helpful  as  money  can  be.  If  there  is  one 
thought  above  all  others  which  I  would  like  to  help  you 

21 


to  eliminate  from  your  consciousness,  it  is  that  the  great 
opportunities  of  modern  progress  mean  infinitely  more 
than  seeking  the  easiest  way.  There  is  a  path  that  is 
long,  but  it  is  the  shortest  of  all  roads.  There  is  a  way 
that  is  hard,  and  that  is  often  the  easiest  route. 


22 


UNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


me  inrri  r« 


A     000  072  488     0 


